The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-06-16
Let the city sleep. But my friends, be

form OF drunkard lying on his own door
STEP Look about you, lest you feel the
garroter's hug. Look through the broken
window-pane, and see what you can see.
You say: Nothing" Then listen. What
is ita God help usr' No footlights, but
tragedy ghastlier and mightier than Ris-
tori or Edwin Booth ever enacted. No
light, no fire, no bread, no hope. SILVER
ing In the cold, they have had no food for
twenty-four hours. You say: ''Why dom
they bega" They do, but they get moth
ing. You say: 'Why don't they deliver
themselves over to the almshouse2" ALL
you would not ask that if you ever heard
the bitter cry of a man or child when told
he must go to the almshouse.
"Ov" you say, 'sthey are vicious poor,
and, therefore, they do not deserve our
sympathy" Are they viciouss So much
more need they your pity. The Christian
poor, God helps them. Through their
night there wrinkles the round, merry
star of hope, and through the broken
windew-pane they see the crystals of
heaven; but the vicious poor, they are
more to be pitied. Their last light has
gone out. You excuse yourself from
helping them by saying they are so bad,
they brought this trouble on themselves
reply, where give ten prayers for the
innocent who are suffering l will give
twenty prayers for the guilty who are
suffering.
The fisherman, when he sees vessel
dashing into the breakers, comes out
from his hut and wraps the warmsst fam
nels around those who are most chilled
and most bruised and most battered in
the wreck; and want you to know that
these vicious poor have had two
hipwrecks-shipwreck of the body, ship
wreck of the soul-shipwreck for time,
shipwreck for eternity. Pity, by all
means. the innocent who are suffering.
but pity more the guilty.
Pass on through the alley. Open the
door. sOh," you say, cit is locked" No,
it is not locked. 1t has never been locked.
No burglar would be tempted to go in
there to steal any thing. The door is
never locked. Only a broken chair stands
against the door. Shove it back. Go in.
Strike match. Now, look. Beastllness
and rags. See those glaring eyeballs.
Be careful now what you say. Do not
utter any insult, do not utter any sus-
picion, if you value your life. What is
that red mark on the wall3 It Is the mark
of murderer's handi
Look at those two eyes rising up out of
the darkness and out from the straw in
the corner, coming toward you, and as
they come near you, your light goes out.
Strike another match. All! this is a babe,
not like those beautiful children presented
In baptism. This little one never smiled;
it never will smile. A flower flung on an
awfully barren beach. Oh, Heavenly
Shepherd. fold that little one in thy arms
Vro md L.
tighter, for the cold wind sweeps through
Strike another match. Ahl is it pos.
sible that that young woman's SCARED
and bruised face ever was looked into by
maternal tendernessf Utter no scorn.
Utter no harsh word. No ray of hope has
dawned on that brow for many a year.
NO ray OF hope ever will dawn on that
brow. But the light has gone out. Do
not strike another light 1t would be
mockery to kindle another light
in such place as that. Pass out and
pass down the street. Our cities of
Brooklyn and New York and all our great
cities are full of such homes, and the
worst time the third watch of the night.
Do you know it is in this third watch of
the night that criminals do their worst
work. 1t is the criminals watch.
At half-past eight o'clock you will find
them in the drinking saloon, but toward
twelve o'clock they go to their garrets,
they get out their tools, then they start
on the street. Watching on either side
for the police, they go to their work of
darkness. This is burglar, and the false
key will soon touch the store lock. This
is an incsndiary, and before morning
there will be a light on the sky,
and cry Of s.firel frei" This is an
assassin, and tomorrow morning there
will be dead body in one Of the
vacant lots. During the daytime these
villains in our cities lounge about, some
asleep and some awake, but when the
third watch Of the night arrives. their
eyes are keen, their brain cool, their arm
strong, their foot feet to fly or pursue,
they are ready.
Many Of these poor creatures were
brought up in that way. They were born
in thieves garnet. Their childish toy
was burglars dark-lantern. The first
thing they remember was their mother
bandaging the brow of their father, struck
by the police club. They began by rob-
bling boys pockets, and now they have
come to dig the underground passage to
the cellar of the bank, and are preparing
to blast the gold vault
just so long as there are neglected chill
dren on the street, just 80 long we will
have these desperadoes. Some one, wish
ing to make good Christian point and to
quote passage Of Scripture, expecting
to get Scriptural passage in answer,
said to one of these poor lads, cast out
and wretched: "When your father and
your mother forsake you, who, then, will
take you ups" and the boy said: 1.-THE
perlice, the perlicep'
In the third watch Of the night gambling
does its worst work. What though the
hours be slipping away, and though the
wife be waiting in the cherries homea
Stir up the fire. Bring on more drinks.
Put up more stakes. That commercial
house that only a little while ago put out
sign OF copartnership will this winter
be wrecked on gamblers table. There
will be many money-till that will spring
leak. A member of Congress gambled
with member elect and won $4,000.
The old way of getting living is SO slow.
The oil way Of getting fortune is so
stupid. Come, let us toss up and see who
shall have ii. And so the work goes on,
from the wheeling wretches pitching PEN
MES in rum grocery up to the millionaire
gambler in the stock market.
In the third watch Of the night, pass
down the streets Of these cities, and YOU
hear the click Of the dice, and the sharp,